Lubricating system



April 21, 1942. A, C. PETERSON 2,280,198

LUBRICATING SYSTEM W1 TNESSES:

WMM/m@ Q@ :HI/be C. Peterson,1

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11 ATTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 2l, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT f OFFICE 4' j p 2,280,198" Y l l LUBRICATING SYSTEM Albert (l. Peterson, Chicago, Ill., assigner-to Union` Special Machine `Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois A Application April .2, 1940, serial No. 327,387

10 Claims.

This invention relates to lubricating systems, and has reference more particularly to lubricating systems in which the oil is constantly circulated.' j l K The present invention constitutes an improve- `ment upon a form of lubricating system featured jin a copending patent application Serial l No.

231,299 filed by Edwin J. Broucek on September 23, 1938. `In the system of that application, oil isdrawn from a reservoir into a bearing by the action of a pump means jointly formed by said in it, and forced into a lengthwisedead end `duct `in the shaft for conduction to a plurality of rotary actuatorsron said shaft beyond the bearing. In this construction, the pump means operates to maintain the oil in theshaft duct under pressure so that an excess amount of Vit is con-y tinuously forced through the rotary actuators,

withtheresult that the oil supply `soon becomes bearing andthe portion of a shaft rotating withy c1. isi-6) Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail sectional View corresponding to Fig; 1 drawn to a larger scale.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail sectional View taken as indicatedV by the arrows V-V in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6is a fragmentary View in elevation showing part of the driving shaft of the machine.

Figs. 7 and 8 are detail views in side elevation of two different-types of rotary actuators` embodied in the machine.

clined somewhat to the vertical and guided in an inset bearing sleeve `I I at the bottom I2 of a head I3 which is supported by a vhollow standard I4 rising `from the work support I5 and which oversothat the oil is continuously circulated in the y system without undue wastage. l

A further aim of my invention is to secure, by simplification and improvement in a manner also fully set forth indetail hereinafter, a higheroperative eiciency in the pumping means jointly formed by the shaft and its bearing.

As was the case with the lubricating system of the copending application, supra, the system of my invention is especially useful in connection with high speed sewing machines,l although it is adaptable to othertypes of machines where constant bathing of moving parts with `lubricating oil is desirable or essential for efficient `performance.

Other objects and advantages of mylinvention conveniently embodying the present improve` ments. l

. Fig. 2 ,shows the upper portion of the machin in side elevation.

Fig.\3 is a detail `sectional viewtaken as indi-l cated by the angled arrows IIl--III in Fig. 2.

hangs said support. Set into the front and rear walls I6 and I'I of the standard I4, are bearings t I8 and I9; and journalled in thesebearings is a shaft 20 which extends longitudinally of the hollow of the standard and whichis inclined downwardly somewhat relative to the horizontalfrom the front bearing to the rear bearing. Mounted on the shaft 2,0 within the standard between the bearings I8 andIS are rotary actuators in the' form ofeccentrics 22, 23, 24 and 25 whereof the straps 22a, 23a, 24a and 25a are connected, by rods 26, 21, 28 and 29, with various elements associated withcomplemental stitch forming mechanism and feeding mechanism (not illustrated) within the base 30 of the machine ofr which the work support I5 constitutes the top. Thepresser foot 3l of the machine is pivotally connected at,32 to` the outer end of the horizontal arm33 fulcrumed for up and down movement about a pivot 35 on the standard I. A presser bar 36 suitably guided in the head I3 and subject to the action `of a compression spring (not shown) bears at its lower end into a recess 3'I in the top of the arm 33 to yieldingly urge the presser foot 3| downwardly. The head I3 has a removable boX-like front cover 38 forv protecting the parts by whichthe` needle bar is reciprocated, these parts including a pitman 39 which, at its upper end, is pivotally connected to the top of said needle bar, and which, at itslower` end, is connected to a balanced disk. crank 4D on the front end of the shaft 20. At the rear of the machine, the shaft 20 extends to the exterior for attachment of a combined' handwheelv and pulley I'II.l As shown, the belt 42 for the pulley extends down through a clearance opening 43 in a table 44, Vwhereon the machine is supported, to power For the purpose of automatically lubricating a `sewing machine such as briefly described byv The needle bar I0 of the sewing machine is instandard i4.

way of example, I have, in accordance with my invention, made provisions as follows:

Integrally formed with a cover member which closes the hollow of the standard I4 at the top, is an oil reservoir 45 having a removable lid 41. A lsupply of lubricating oil is maintained in the reservoir 46 by a transparent oil cup 48 of the inverted constant level type screwed into one side wall of said reservoir, indicated at L in Fig. 1. Extending from the bottom of the reservoir 45 within the standard I4 is a gravity flow tube or duct 49 which connects with a vertical bore 50 in the partition I6 inY line with a port 5I in the top of the bearing I8. In the plane of the port 5l is a groove52` which extends part way around the shaft Ztl within the confines of the bearing I8, and which, it will be noted, is of uniform width and depth throughout its length. At one end, the groove 52 communicates, by way of a radial port 53, with an axial duct 54 in the shaft 25. As shown in Fig; 1, the. duct 54 is closed at its front end byV a screw plug 55 which is accessible upon removal of the front cover 33 from the needle head E2, and extends rearward to a point beyond the center of the bearing i9. From the duct 54. oil is conducted, by way of radial ports 55. in the shaft 2f), to circumferential grooves 51S internally of the eccentrics 22-25, and from said grooves by way of one'or more connecting radial ports 5S as shown in Figs, 1, 7 and 8, tothe bearing surfaces of said eccentrics, the last mentioned ports containing flow-restricting filter packing as conventionally indicated in Figs. 1 and 4. Within the confines of the bearing E9, the shaft 2l! has a radial port 55 which communicates with a circumferential groove 30 internally of said bearing. Leading upward in the bearing i9 from the groove 6i) is a port El which registers with a vertical bore 52 in the rear wall Il of the At the region of its overlap upon the wall Il, thecover 45 is recessed as at 53 to form in conjunction with an interposed plate 64, a channel which communicates by way of a port m said plate with the top of the bore in saidrwall. l Extending up from the channel 63 is a tube 55 which reaches up Within the reservoir 46 and terminates in a goose neck discharge end above the oil level. Beneath the base 30 of the machine is a drip pan 57 which drains, through a central tubeliS, into a removable oil collecting receptacle 69 below the table 44. f

During each rotation of the shaft 29, which is in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 5 a quantity of oil gravitates from the reservoir by way of the connection 49, the duct 5t and the port 5I in the bearing I5, into the interrupted groove 52 in said shaft while the groove is in registry with said port. As the shaft 2i) continues in its rotation, the charge of oil thus is trapped, due to its inertia, cannot follow the rapid movement of the shaft, and part of it is accordingly forced from the groove 52 through the port 5 3 into the shaft ductv 5 4. By successive injections of such changes, the oil in the shaft duct 54, aided by gravitation due to the downward slope ofthe shaft, is constantly advanced leftward in Fig. 1, and the quantity over and above that required to keep the packing in the eccentrics moist, is forced upward through the port 6| inthe bearing I9, the duct B0, port 65, passage 63 and tubef56, and finally discharged from the top end of the latter into the reservoir 45. InY this way, the-ol is constantly maintainedincirculation inthe system and lasts almost indefinitely since but an infinitesimal amount can escape past the bearing surfaces of the eccentrics, such escape oil finding its way down through the machine base 30 into the drip pan 61. Accordingly, oil replenishment is necessary only at very protracted periods, while Wastage is reduced to an absolute minimum.

The sewing machine herein shown and described is to be regarded as exemplary of other types of machines with which the circulating lubricating system of my invention may be readily incorporated by modifications within the scope of the appended claims for attainment of advantages in all respects like those hereinbefore particularly pointed out.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. A lubricating system for machines having a shaft, a bearing in which the shaft is journalled, and a rotary actuator on the shaft beyond the bearing, said system comprising an oil reservoir, a flow connection leading from the reservoir and entering the bearing through a port at right angles to the shaft, a lengthwise duct in the shaft leading from the region of the bearing to the rotary actuator, a return connection leading from the shaft duct beyond the rotary actuator to the reservoir, a pump means for circulating the oil in the system, including a groove which extends part way around the shaft within the bearing in the plane of the port, and a radial port at the trailing end of the groove as considered with reference to the direction of shaft rotation, which communicates into the shaft duct.

2. A lubricating system according to claim 1, in which the interrupted groove is of uniform depth and width throughout its length.

3. A lubricating system for machines having a substantially horizontal shaft, a bearing in which the shaft is journalled, and a rotary actuator on the shaft beyond the bearing, said system comprising an oil reservoir at an elevation above the shaft, a gravity flow connection leading from the bottom of the reservoir to a port extending down through the bearing to the shaft, a lengthwise duct in the shaft, a port leading from the bearing to the rotary actuator on the shaft, a return connection extending upward from the shaft duct beyond the rotary actuator and discharging into the reservoir from above, and pump means jointly formed by the shaft and the bearing Within the confines of the latter for circulating the oil in the System.

4. A lubricating system according to claim 3,

, in which the pump means includes a groove which extends part way around the shaft in the plane of the port in the bearing, and a port at the trailing end of the groove, as considered with4 reference to the direction of shaft rotation, communicating into the shaft duct.

5. A lubricating system for machines having a substantially horizontal shaft, a pair of spaced bearings in which the shaft is journalled, and a rotary actuator on the shatf intermediate the bearings, said system comprising an oil reservoir at an elevation above the shaft, a gravity flow connection leading from the bottom of the reservoir to a port extending down through one of the bearings to the shaft, a return connection leading up from the shaft from within the other bearing and discharging into the reservoir from above, a lengthwise duct extending through the shaftbetween the two bearings, a radial port in the shaft within said other bearing by way of i which the shaft duct communicates with the re'- 6. A lubricating system according to claim5, in`

which the pump means includes an interrupted circumferential groove in the surface of the shaft in the plane of the port in the first mentioned bearing, and a radial port at the trailing end of the groove as considered with reference to the direction of shaft rotation, communicating into the shaft duct.

7. The combination With a sewing machine having a work support with a hollow standard rising therefrom, bearings respectively in the front and rear Wall of the standard, a substantially horizontal shaft extending longitudinally through the standardand journalled in the bearings, a plurality of rotary actuators on the shaft within the standard, and a top cover for the standard; of. a lubricating system comprising an oil reservoir on the cover of the machine standard, a gravity flow connection leading from the bottom of thereservoir within the standard to a port extending down into the shaft bearing in the front wall of the standard, a return connection leading from a port in the top of the bearing in the rear wall and discharging into thereservoir from above, a duct extending between the bearings within the shaft, ports leading from the shaft duetto the bearing surfaces of the respec- `tive rotary actuators, and pump means jointly formed Iby the shaft and the bearing in one of the Walls of the standard for circulating the oil in the system.

which the pump means includes a groove which extends part way around the shaft in the plane of the port in the front Wall bearing, anda port at the trailing end of the groove as considered with reference to the directionof shaft rotation, communicating into the shaft duct.

9. A lubricating system for machines having a` substantially horizontal hollow shaft journalled in spaced bearings, said system comprising a lu-V bricant reservoir above the shaft, a duct leading downwardly from the reservoir to one of the bearings, intermittent pump means jointly provided by such bearing and the shaft, whereby, during each vrotation of the shaft, a definite quantity of lubricant is trapped from the reservoir and forced into the shaft hollow, and a duct leading upward from another of the bearings direct to the reservoir for returning to the latter excess oil forced into the shaft as aforesaid.

10. A lubricating system for machines having a substantially horizontal hollow shaft journalled in spaced bearings, and an actuator on said shaft for operating mechanism, said system comprising a lubricant reservoir above the shaft, a duct leading downwardly from the reservoir to one of the bearings, intermittent pump means jointly provided by such bearing and the shaft, Whereby, during each rotation of the shaft, a definite quantity `of lubricant is trapped from the reservoir and forced into the shaft hollow, means for conducting lubricant from the hollow of the shaft to said actuator, and a duct leading upward from another of the bearings direct to the reservoir for returning to the latter excess oil forced into the shaft as aforesaid.

ALBERT C. PETERSON.

8. The combination according to claim 7, in` 

